August 12, 2008
Bloomberg Wary of Natural Gas Drilling Near Water Supply
By Ilya Marritz, WNYC Radio
NEW YORK, NY —Mayor Michael Bloomberg is voicing concerns about possible gas drilling near upstate water reservoirs.

BLOOMBERG: Look, I think we need energy, there's no question about that. You can drill in a responsible way. Our great concern would be when you're drilling so close to the water supply, the watershed, for this city.

REPORTER: New York City is asking the state for a formal role in permitting gas wells in the watershed. The city also wants a mandatory one-mile buffer around reservoirs and related infrastructure.

AUGUST 6, 2008
NYC Demands Gas Drilling Ban
Big Apple acts to shield reservoirs from gas pollution.
By ABRAHM LUSTGARTEN, ProPublica, Special to the Times Union

New York City officials have demanded a ban on natural gas drilling near its Catskills reservoirs because they fear the drilling could contaminate the city's drinking water.

They've asked the state Department of Environmental Conservation to establish a one-mile wide protective perimeter around each of the city's six major Catskills reservoirs and connecting infrastructure -- a buffer that would put at least 500,000 acres off limits to drilling.

|They also want to wrest more regulatory control from state officials.
New York City is one of just four major cities in the United States with a special permit allowing its drinking water to go unfiltered. And that pristine water comes from a network of reservoirs and rivers throughout five counties. If the special permit were revoked, the city would have to build a treatment facility that could cost it nearly $10 billion, according to Walter Mugden, an official at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.That's roughly what the state estimated it would earn from natural gas development over the next decade.

In a letter from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection to state officials, obtained by ProPublica, Commissioner Emily Lloyd said she was not satisfied with state assurances that the environment would be protected from drilling in the Marcellus Shale, a layer of rock that dives 7,000 to 9,000 feet below much of the Appalachian East, including south central New York state.
The letter doesn't offer specifics on how drilling might taint the city's water or explain the basis for a one-mile buffer, but it made clear that as guardians of New York City's water, city officials view drilling as a serious threat.

Lloyd asked that a state, city and federal working group be formed to reassess regulations in the watershed. She also called for the city to be given a say in the state's permit review process, and for the public to be allowed to comment on each well permit, something that is not guaranteed now.

"If you are ranking areas of concern that need extremely careful protection (the New York watershed) would have to be at the top of anybody's list," said Mugden, director of the division of environmental planning and protection at the Environmental Protection Agency, region two. "More than half the state depends on that watershed on a daily basis."

The Marcellus Shale is among several large new natural gas reserves in the United States that are becoming economically viable in a time of record oil and gas prices. Recovering the gas involves a process called hydrofracking -- shooting millions of gallons of water and drilling chemicals at explosive pressure deep underground to break up the rock. Hydrofracking requires more water than most other types of drilling, and the identity of the chemicals, which are sometimes toxic, is protected as a trade secret, making it difficult to assess how waste water can be safely treated and discharged.

An investigation last month by ProPublica and WNYC public radio found that New York state had not adequately assessed the environmental risks and did not have a complete regulatory structure in place to determine where the immense amount of water would come from or how it would be disposed of after use. State officials did not know the chemical contents of drilling fluids the gas industry would use and was not aware of the level of contamination in other states.
Last week, Gov. David Paterson ordered the state DEC to undertake a 12-month update to the 16-year-old environmental impact assessment it uses to review permit applications. He pledged to require the industry to disclose the chemicals it uses. But Paterson did not promise to stop drilling from going forward in the mean time.

A prolonged regulatory debate could threaten production.

"If the state process involves a lot of concurrence with other agencies or environmental reviews along the line it can create potential for considerable delay," said Lee Fuller, vice president of government relations for the Independent Petroleum Association of America. "(It) can really affect the cost of development and the schedule of development and the willingness of some producers to engage in that development."

New York City was not brought into the state's gas drilling talks until mid-July, even though state officials had worked on the issue for seven months. The city sent a letter to state officials raising concerns about a new well-spacing bill that was before the governor and Lloyd requested special protection for the watershed a few days later. The state and the city have tried to keep talks private. Both sides have stressed cooperation.

"DEC has given us every assurance we have asked for," Lloyd said through a spokesperson Friday, "... that environmental review will be very stringent, that we will be at the table throughout the process, and that protecting water quality is their first priority as well as ours."

The face-off pits New York City's interests against the broader economic needs of the state, so finding a solution may not be easy, said Eric Goldstein, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council. Gas leases are selling for up to $3,000 an acre in parts of the state with stagnant economies.

Upstate-downstate friction can be attributed at least in part to New York City's controversial acquisition of watershed lands in the early 1900s, Goldstein said. Goldstein said New York City may have the law on its side, because the state's public health law gives it a lever to set pollution controls in the watershed. But Goldstein predicted the city is more likely to search for a cooperative solution that leaves the door to open for upstate economic growth while still saving its water.
"You could say that from a legal standpoint they have authority," Goldstein said. "How and whether they might choose to use it is another question."

July 9, 2008
Delaware Riverkeeper Network and Damascus Citizens for Sustainability  
Join Nockamixon Township to Fight for the Municipal Rights
to Control Natural Gas Drilling in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Western District – An Amicus Brief was filed
July 8 by Nockamixon Township, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, American Littoral Society and the Damascus Citizens for Sustainability in support of two Pennsylvania towns who have filed appeals to the state’s Supreme Court.  Oakmont Borough, Allegheny County and Salem Township, Westmoreland County have asked the high court to overturn lower court decisions that prohibit municipalities from establishing local ordinances regulating natural gas drilling within their borders.

The Court is considering the extent to which the state Oil and Gas Act preempts local ordinances.  The townships, including Nockamixon Township, Bucks County, want to regulate aspects of natural gas extraction in order to protect their residents and natural and public resources.  Range Resources and Huntley and Huntley natural gas developers challenged the right of the townships to apply municipal ordinances, given the State law.

May 23, 2008
Federal Court Strikes Rule Exempting Oil and Gas
Projects from Clean Water Rules
Statement of Sharon Buccino, NRDC Senior Attorney

SAN FRANCISCO (May 23, 2008) – A federal court struck down a rule exempting oil and gas development projects from pollution-prevention requirements of the Clean Water Act. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the Environmental Protection Agency in a case brought by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The decision will help protect thousands of streams throughout the West from sediment contamination caused by energy exploration and development, according to NRDC.
 
Following is a statement by Sharon Buccino, senior attorney at NRDC:
 
“It is well known that sediment pollution from oil and gas development can impair water quality and destroy aquatic habitat. Yet under the guise of enforcing the 2005 Energy Act, EPA exempted projects from the requirements of the Clean Water Act. Today, the court rightly decided that the EPA rule was arbitrary and capricious. The law clearly requires oil and gas projects ensure that their activities do not contribute to violations of water quality standards. 
 
“The explosion of oil and gas exploration and production poses a serious threat to water quality throughout the West. Sediment from projects runs off into streams and rivers; harming aquatic life; increasing water treatment costs for towns and cities; decreasing property values;  clogging irrigation systems and interfering with recreational activities, such as fishing.”

http://www.nrdc.org/media/2008/080523.asp